Of Books, Barns, and Boardrooms

“Of Books, Barns, and Boardrooms: Exploring Praxis through Reflexive Inquiry is an engaging and accessible book that is at once scholarly and personal. Ellyn Lyle explores how self intersects with pedagogy and education in three separate but connected contexts: formal education, horse training (joining-up), and workplace learning. She begins with a narrative of how she learned about reflexive inquiry; from that foundation, she questions how educational systems can both debilitate and inspire, using her own life story and explaining how theories relate to practice. In so doing, Lyle is informative and invitational, providing a model for educators to problematize their own contexts. Most interesting is how she uses the concept of joining-up, not training, when exploring her work with horses. This transferable concept requires educators and learners to communicate, build reciprocal relationships, work towards understanding, engage in meaning-making, and interact with others through mutual respect. Educators in all contexts would benefit from reading this book, and I will be recommending it to my students.” – Nancy Taber, Brock University “Ellyn Lyle uses the successful, deep communication with horses, a process called ‘Join-Up,’ as a lyrical and practical metaphor for negotiating learning in multiple contexts. A fascinating personal story, Of Books, Barns, and Boardrooms is also an invaluable guidebook for learning, teaching, and questioning: for parents, teachers, students, administrators, and entrepreneurs. I am urged to consider where learning and systems fail and, also, to celebrate how ‘life is my classroom, and all encounters, my teachers.’ I wish I had had these insights and inspiring analogies at hand when I was a university professor and president.” – Elizabeth R. Epperly, Professor Emerita and Past President, University of Prince Edward Island, author of Power Notes: Leadership by Analogy “When I ‘Join-Up’ with Ellyn Lyle’sphilosophical inquiry, I experience a process of deep trust and listening that she suggests is the basis of authentic learning. Of Books, Barns, and Boardrooms, about learners and learning, is a critical and creative inquiry that questions and challenges practices that prevent learning. It is a way of doing philosophy, a method of (re)constructing narrative to examine some of the metaphors that shape and inform concepts, biases, and assumptions. Using her understanding of join-up to identify problems that prohibit growth, the author constructs a compelling story of change and invites readers to do the same.” – Anne-Louise Brookes, author of Feminist Pedagogy: An Autobiographical Approach “Ellyn Lyle takes readers on an inspirational journey celebrating learning and teaching as a shared and respectful partnership—one that values the breadth of life’s experiences as sources of knowledge.” – Debra Manning, Federation University Australia